A fantastic compedium for Vampire. This is a bit of a late review as I got the book a few months ago, but it is brilliant. I got the standard print hard cover, and for a cheaper option, the book still serves its purpose perfectly. In the future I may consider buying premium color print books simply to support the folks here at DriveThruRpg.

Grabbing attention from the outset opening with a collection of fan (and fans-now-made-it-in-the-hobby) comments about what earlier versions of Vampire: The Masquerade means to them, this is a beast of a book, enticing and potentially destructive, capturing all the excitement and otherness of the original in a mature, elegant and yet still raw and visceral form. Once through this excitement, the 'meat' of the book comes in three sections: the Riddle, the Becoming and the Permutations.

First up, The Riddle. This looks at what the game actually is with an Introduction that charts the development of Vampire: The Masquerade from its beginnings in 1991, discussing the wierd yet effective mixture of urban alienation and tight-knit community of belonging that made this game such a landmark and success; and touching at some length on the pervasive nature of the LARP version too. Then there are some notes on vampires as they are seen in this game, which of the common 'facts' about vampires are true and which are not... These basics covered, Chapter 1: A World of Darkness looks in more detail at vampires (the kindred as they like to call themselves) and the world in which they have their unlife, and Chapter 2: Sects and Clans covers vampire society, the organisations that claim their loyalty. It all makes for fascinating reading, and established the environment in which the game is played with YOU as the vampires.

Next, The Becoming. This is the game mechanics bit, covering character creation and the options available in Chapter 3: Character and Traits, and Chapter 4: Disciplines. Then Chapter 5: Rules tells you what you can do with the character that you have created, and how to go about it, with Chapter 6: Systems and Drama providing extra detail on doing, well, everything to best effect. Then Chapter 7: Morality slams the brakes on, with what happens to the vampire's core essence, his soul if you like, as he goes about his unlife. Herein lies the angst, the alienation and the struggle to stay sane, perhaps even 'human' when you so clearly are no longer what you were pre-embrace.

Finally, The Permutations. Here we find a chapter on Storytelling, the art of running a game. It's full of thoughtful and thought-provoking comments, ideas to help you spawn your own ideas. Developing themes and situations, capturing the essence of the World of Darkness and presenting it to your players. Building a structure to create a coherent chroncicle (plot arc), even how to bring it to a resounding conclusion. There's a wealth of good ideas, it's a chapter you will return to again and again, dip into for a specific nugget or mine to get your own ideas spawning. Build on that with Chapter 9: The Others, which provides detail and resources concerning vampires' few friends and legions of enemies. Many of these will spawn yet more ideas as you read about them. Finally, there's a chapter on Bloodlines. These weave their way through vampire society, more personal than the giant clans. Some may be extinct... or are they? Vampires take these seriously, and including them in the tapestry of your game will enrich it tremendously.

Some see this edition as a nostalgic look back, a retrospective of a great game line. Or as a celebration of the best of a wonderful game. There are indications that it's aimed at rekindling the love with those who have played Vampire: The Masquerade over the preceeding twenty years. Yet it's a whole lot more. It's an encapsulation of what has gone before, accessible to new players as well as to the old, a grand continuation of the game into the next century.

This is the table top Vampire game to play, hands down. This version of Vampire the Masquerade beats Vampire the Requiem 2nd Edition! Here is why.

I have played Vampire the Requiem extensively. The new second edition of Vampire the Requiem has alienated me. The art was trashy and cheap, the rules for experience and progression are stupid, rebalancing of disciplines resulted in more confusion and unbalance, and the game feels goofier and more unpolished than ever. Even though there are some positive changes to the new VtR2e, the game plays more awkward than ever. So I thought to myself, it’s time to learn about my options. And that is why VtM20th got my consideration.

My reservations have always been that the system is too old with too much baggage and outdated mechanics that won’t play as clean and smooth as first edition nWoD games did. My reservations were justified to some degree. The game still feels a little dusty. Some of the mechanics are a bit clunky feeling and could diffidently be cleaner. But the book is beautiful, the setting is ruthlessly wonderful, and the game is even better than I remember it being. I have been running a game for about 8 full nights now and I am really enjoying it. The community that supports this game is still very alive. The setting has been very well cleaned up. The rules make more sense than ever. Some of the things that initially bothered me either didnt bother me as much as I thought they would when we played or I have found a solution in the rules that I did not notice at first. The disciplines seem more balanced than I remember. Combat is a bit too cumbersome but the more I get used to it the more this is not an issue for me.

It’s not perfect and I do miss some of my favorite aspects of VtR (first edition.) But this game has not faded away at all. Its community is thriving and the game has been refined yet preserved.

In the end, games like this are about role play. This game’s role play experience is great. This feels like the quintessential vampire game that has colored our culture for the last 20+ years. That’s what VtR2e is missing. While playing this game, I keep getting this feeling that, this is it; this is what our generation's Vampire mythology is. It’s been thought out and vetted for eternity.

I think VtR has some issues it will need to work through for the next ten year cycle. While it works that out, I’ll be happily playing VtM.

As for the book, it’s big. I mean, in real life, this damn thing is HUGE. My first “premium” book had binding problems. DTRPG sent me out a new one right away. They are great to work with and I’m pleased that they handle problems quickly and kindly. But I don’t think the quality of the binding is very good for a $100 book. Other than the binding being stressed by the page count, the book is absolutely beautiful. I’m not sure that the premium version is worth the extra money though.

First: english is not my mothertongue but I think the following will be possible to decipher :)

Second: The content of the books (I ordered both in colour two years ago I think) is great, the other ratings tell more about that.

but, and this is my point of view and a useless one when you don't care about the binding of a book,

Third: The Binding, for me an essential component for a Roleplaying Game Rulebook, is what seems to me as a double-fan adhesive bound. I am not proficient in this trade but I am able to compare all of my other p&p Books (nearly 20 Hardcover books of over 7 different Games from the US, UK and Germany, sometimes with over 500 pages thick) bindings with the bindings of the book I am reviewing. And none of them has this kind of binding. Instead they are done with the oversewing technique. And from my point of view there is a consequence in that.
After using both Vampire books nearly 2 times a month over 2 years (as a Storyteller) the paper which held the pages in the cover ripped (both books). A clear cut between the first page attached to the cover and the rest of the pages. The tear is located there because I open the books usually with the front cover first, like from right to left. Not any of my other books 5 to 10 years older and more frequently in use (once a week for over 5 years (also for storytelling)) plagued me with this problem. Well not any other books except the last VtM Core-Rulebook Edition before this one (but I am not sure if this version also had the same binding as the v20, I don't posses it any more, passed it along when receiving the v20 ones)
This is essential because these books are considered to be used frequently preferably over a long time. They have to withstand the continuing opening and closing of the players.
"I use my new feat XY, I have to..." open - close
"I would like to create this character from..." open - close
"Isn't this supposed to be..." open - close
and so on.
When the pages are going to fall out of the cover it is a annoying hindrance to use the books. And this is happening and I can see no other Reason than this. I doubt that my girlfriend is gnawing at the pages at night Oo

I wrote this Review because I care and because I love the Vampire Setting and hope that this will be considered in the future.

Books with this flaw tends to be useless to me and therefore wasted money.
Delagur

PS: I also wrote an E-Mail to the support about this topic but I felt to tell this again and this time to the ones considering to buy the books.

I cannot say enough good things about this product. The images are all crisp, well drawn. Seeing Tim Bradstreet's art grace the pages of a V:tM core book was fantastic, in my opinion.
The writers missed very few items in bringing V:tM to an expanded audience for the twentieth anniversary of the flagship line of the classic Works of Darkness. Two things that stood out as missing to me was the lack of two Paths of Enlightenment, the Path of the Hive, and Scorched Heart. Other than that, fantastic book.

If you like Vampire the Masquerade, then this book is amazing because it not only has a few things updated to be more in line with modern times, but it also gathers together a lot of different rules and information from various books within the line and puts it all within a single source. I've been running a campaign out of it for a few months now, and all of my player are really enjoying it. I'm incredibly satisfied, and even if the price is high for the physical color copy, it is DEFINITELY worth it.

Love this book. I purchased the black and white softcover version, and though the price was a bit high, it was definitely worth it to get everything I could need to play or run a game. If you have the money, you definitely need to pick this book up.

The highest quality art and excellent presentation are one of the most compelling things about this book. The colors are all very vivid, the poses of the vampires are imaginative. The gore, in the form of the depictions of decapitation and slit wrists and throat in one illustration, might turn off some and captivate others. In black and white, the images contained within are seriously worth printing to keep monuments of and to stimulate the writer's mind.

THE PRINT VERSION (BLACK AND WHITE)

In grey-scale, the art takes on a classical Gothic, mysterious kind of life. It more accurate represents the Vampire in a way, because it was created by a man in the late 19th century, when color photography was not featured as prominently as it is in today's publications. The models in the book are really attractive, each in their own distinct ways. No two models are alike and the hand drawn illustrations gain a mystical, intriguing quality.

THE BOOK ITSELF

The introduction of the Vampire, the guidance on storytelling are very neatly written and the red headers add a stylish edge. How to write about stories of the Masquerade must be read to know how to begin to fathom the art of writing for beginners and a good reminder for seasoned writers. The essential methods of building a foundation for fiction are brilliantly explained. The titles, statuses clans and sects are very complete, even though some are concisely covered. The worldly archetypes and occupations your vampires can take are described very thoroughly. New or familiar to the genre, you must read the book from stem to stern. It's extensive and a mountain of patience is required in order to finish it, but when you're done, you'll be well-informed and eager to learn more precise details about the Camarilla, the Sabbat, the Anarch movement and the Independents. You'll also be able to build your characters from the ground up, give them their abilities, backgrounds, powers and make them play as prominent a role in your works of fictions as you see fit. The bloodlines will certainly give you fine starting points from which to begin. The ghouls and revenants offer many possibilities, too.

Thank you very much, White Wolf! This is a rebirth of one of the RPG titles that helped set the gears of supernatural fiction into motion.

This is an amazing product. All the rules are in one place so that gameplay doesn't have to stop while someone digs out some obscure book, all the clans, sects, bloodlines, and powers are here so that frugal players can grab it and have whatever they need. The only downside is that some of the art leaves a little to be desired, but most of the art is phenomenal. If you like V:tM, cWoD, or just White Wolf, pick this up. If you like vampires in general, pick this up, find a group, and embark on the adventure of a lifetime. I got it to replace a revised Core Rulebook that was stolen from me years ago, and I'm almost glad it was stolen now. I got the B&W softcover from Drive Thru, and the quality is amazing. They say there's a thin white edge on all the pages, but it's not a big deal at all. You barely notice it, and the binding is pretty good too. Buy this book.